Free to Forage
In this project, students studied the benefits of native plants and effects of invasive species on San Diego ecology, examined plant anatomy under a microscope, researched different propagation and planting growing techniques, learned about foraging and uses for plants, and collected data about the frequency of plant species in different areas of San Diego for a citizen science database, iNaturalist. They then designed and built planters for native plants to be housed and appreciated at our school. They also created a "Native Planthology" with information about the significance, uses, and how to care for difference native plants. Click on the project handout to learn more.
After learning about plant anatomy, students studied stomata under a mircoscope.
Students presented their planter designs and plant expertise at an exhibition.
Candy Machines and Spooky Stories
.In this interdisciplinary project, students tackled the essential question: How can we study and implement iterations of the 6 simple machines in order to create a device that safely delivers a product. Students worked collaboratively and created blueprints, scale models, and multiple drafts of machines that were able to follow FDA guidelines and deliver items from 6 or more feet away. We exhibited these machines in a school Fall Festival in which our students used them to share candy and joy. Click on the project handout to learn more.
Designs for the machines students built included inclined plane, lever, wedge, wheel and axle, pulley, and screw.
Windows and Mirrors in STEM
Students learned how people with different identities experience math and science differently. This project was facilitated through data collection and analysis, research, and self reflection. Students examined some of the consequences of a lack of diversity in STEM careers including algorithmic bias in AI, medical bias, and slower progress. They created infographics to present to diffferent types of audiences during distance learning, including a class of second graders, with the intention of persuading young folks that we need diversity in math and science careers. Click on the project handout to learn more.
Scaling Up Our Parks
In this project, students design a new park for their community that promotes togetherness and belongingness with kids and services to people in need in the area. They consult with city planners and collect their own data to design park elements that specifically support the needs in their community and then they will create two versions of scale drawings to represent their designs! They will submit their project designs to the city and other community organizations.
Essential Question: How might we design a park for our neighborhood that promotes collaboration and provides services to families in need?
Project Launch: Students visit a neighborhood park and check off amenities (how it performs in terms of physical activity, where all people can be active in it-- kids look at not only if amenities are there but whether or not they’re being used; count how many people are there)
Spicy option: visit a park AND observe on Parks website (could observe many parks, the more the better?)
All students:
Go to the San Diego Parks website and zoom in on a few parks, particularly ones near your house. You can type in your address on the map and it will zoom in on your house automatically. Then answer these questions:
Essential Question: How might we design a park for our neighborhood that promotes collaboration and provides services to families in need?
Project Launch: Students visit a neighborhood park and check off amenities (how it performs in terms of physical activity, where all people can be active in it-- kids look at not only if amenities are there but whether or not they’re being used; count how many people are there)
Spicy option: visit a park AND observe on Parks website (could observe many parks, the more the better?)
All students:
Go to the San Diego Parks website and zoom in on a few parks, particularly ones near your house. You can type in your address on the map and it will zoom in on your house automatically. Then answer these questions:
- What is your favorite park in San Diego?
- What makes it special for you?
- Which park is closest to your house?
- If you could put a park anywhere, where would it be?
- Are there any vacant lots in your neighborhood that would be great places for parks to go?
- What are the needs of the community in your area and how could they be met at a park?
To demonstrate their learning about scale, scale models, and park design, students created blueprints.
Get Up, Stand Up
This project took place as a whole grade level, where students took on different tasks in each class in order to build an automata to display on a float for the Ocean Beach Holiday Parade. Students came up with four different social issues to inspire their float designs: animal rights, gun violence prevention, immigration, and pollution. In math class, they utilized skills and knowledge about proportional relationships, scale, and scaled drawings to create blueprint drawings and scaled models of their mechanisms for the floats. Click on the project handout to learn more!
Students worked in groups on 4 different parade floats, each one advocating for a different social issue (from right to left): pollution, gun violence prevention, immigration, and animal rights.